Tesla Motors Inc. said that it has broken ground for Gigafactory in Nevada. The $5 billion battery plant holds promise for 6,500 new jobs, aiding the state’s 7.7 unemployment rate. The site is located in Tahoe Reno Industrial Center in McCarran. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, said he expects the state to provide about 10 percent of the factory’s cost, adding that they want things to be sorted out at the state level before going to the next stage of pouring out a lot of concrete. Jennifer Cooper, a representative for the Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval’s Office of Economic Development, said conversations with Tesla remain confidential.

Japan Pulp and Paper Co. will construct a 14-MW biomass power plant in northern Japan with its partner New Energy Development Co. The 6.5 billion yen ($63 million) project will be built in Iwate Prefecture, says Tokyo-based Japan Pulp. The facility is expected to start operations in April 2016 and will use wood chips as fuel. Projected annual revenue from selling generated power will be around 2.6 billion yen.

SunPower Planning New 700 MW Factory Due to Surging Demand

SunPower Corp., the second-biggest solar manufacturer in the U.S., is planning a new factory that will double production capacity as the company seeks to increase market share and take advantage of increasing global demand. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, total industry shipments this year may increase as much as 29 percent. SunPower’s 700-MW Fab 5 factory, is anticipated start production in 2017 even though a site where to build it has not yet been determined. The company’s 350-MWFab 4 plant in the Philippines will start production in the first half of 2015.

Largest Near-Shore Wind Farm in The Netherlands to Generate 144 MW

Forty-eight 3-MW Siemens wind turbines have been ordered for the Netherlands’ biggest near-shore wind farm. To be built near Ijsselmeer lake, the Westermeerwind wind farm is expected to generate enough electricity to power 160,000 households by 2016. Arranged in three rows of sixteen, the turbine array will be situated in shallow waters at least 500 meters from a local dike. About 150 temporary jobs will be created during installation and 30 permanent positions will be on offer for the operation and maintenance for the farms fifteen-year service period.